‘I told the boys if one abuse comes from Aussies, give them three back, two in your own language’: Ravi Shastri

One of the striking features of the Indian Test side during Ravi Shastri’s four-year-long tenure as Team India’s head coach between 2017 and 2021, was the aggressive mindset of the players. Not only with bat or ball and in the field, but the Indian side was also ready to take the opposition front on even in verbal duels. The fact that Shastri had an equally (if not more) aggressive captain in Virat Kohli to carry that mindset in the field helped a lot. India achieved unprecedented success in Test cricket in the Kohli-Shastri era with the back-to-back series wins in Australia being the most notable ones.

Almost six months after he stepped down as India’s head coach, Shastri said how he always wanted to build a ‘ruthless’ team, which will not shy away from verbal battles even against a team like Australia.

“And you leave everything you said as a commentator behind. Park it. When I was the director of the team, it was about diagnosing problems: I was asked to hire and fire, whoever I wanted I could get in and whoever I didn’t could be shown the door. And it was also outlining how we want to play: to be aggressive and ruthless, to up the fitness levels, to get a group of fast bowlers to take 20 wickets overseas. And it was about attitude, especially when playing the Aussies. I told the boys if one single ‘**** you’ comes your way, give them three back: two in our language and one in theirs,” Shastri told The Guardian.

India beat Australia in Australia in a Test series for the first time in 2018-19 and backed that up with another stunning victory in 2020-21, this time without a number of their first-XI players who were either out due to injuries or were taking a break due to personal commitments.

India also dominated in England last year. They were leading the five-match series 2-1 when the last Test was cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns.

Shastri revealed how they prepared the batters and bowlers to succeed in English and Australian conditions.

“We told our batsmen to leave their driving licence behind and learn to leave the ball. Make the bowler bowl to you and you’ll score. Be prepared to bat five hours to get a century in England. It won’t come in three and you’ll get out trying.

“We also had slingers [coaches with dogsticks] in the nets smashing the ball in at 160kph from 16 yards. Guys had no choice. There was no dodging, I’d stand behind the stumps to make sure of that. No matter who the person was, he had to go through that. The slingers would seriously let it rip and guys would look ugly. But you are meant to look ugly in the nets. In England you have to grind and earn your runs.

“The same with the bowlers, we told them to stick in because there is a five-wicket session at any given time in England and at Lord’s and the Oval this decided the result. And we knew winning in Australia or England wasn’t coming with spin, it was fast bowlers, guys with aggression like Jasprit Bumrah. We were instrumental in making sure that guy played Test cricket. You don’t even need express pace, you just need attitude,” Shastri added.